


The Price of Potions

by Miss_sunfire



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anxiety, Dark Fantasy, Depression, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Light BDSM, Magical Realism, Original Fiction, Potions, Runes, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_sunfire/pseuds/Miss_sunfire
Summary: With her strength failing, it was all she could do to clumsily tug at the bindings coiled around her, trying in vain to free herself. The burning in her lungs got worse and worse even as her struggles grew weaker. She was cold, in pain and bleeding in the dark water. Her lungs gave out on her, forcing her mouth open to try and suck in a desperate mouthful of air....The salt of the sea filled her instead.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	The Price of Potions

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone!
> 
> So I'd been poking at this now and then, but had been having a bit too much anxiety to actually post/work on it much. I'm feeling a bit better now and looking to write something a bit different, so ya, I'm lowkey, writing my own novel. 
> 
> Expect some dark (dark) fantasy, moral quagmires where no compromises are realistically possible, conflict between magical creatures and society...and probably quite a bit of lesbian romance. Maybe even a bit of smut here and there. We'll see!
> 
> I'm a madwoman! Even I don't know what I'm going to write!

* * *

The call came in on curls of salt laced wind. It was muffled and distant...but plaintive and somehow lonely. The soft sounds weren’t truly in the shape of words, but there was a thoughtful intelligence to it even still. It came in gradually rising and falling waves, ever present but constantly shifting. Growing stronger and stronger as thick mist rose off the water and pressed inland. Urging, no, begging her to follow it where it may lead. Some deep, long forgotten instinct told her to follow it, to figure out it’s source, convinced her she would only ever be truly safe if she could.

So, as you might imagine, one Amelia Grey was _quite_ disconcerted when she realized that she was the only one hearing anything beyond the bouncy chords of the pop song on the radio. 

The 19 year old honestly thought she was losing her tenuous grip on sanity. Especially as the percussive waves seemed to shake her very bones as they neared the coast. It was full of the sort of booming rumble of timpani drums, echoing and sliding around her ears like through a great submerged cavern. Her fingers tapped in time nervously on the door, barely pausing every few seconds as her little sister chattered away to their parents. The innocent excitement and normally deafening screeching could only ever momentarily distract her before the next drumbeat slammed its way into her mind. 

The strange ageless yearning just wouldn’t be denied for something as mundane as a normal beach vacation. It was all Amelia could do to stop to hang on as she felt like she was drowning in the pulsing waves of sound. Her ears rang and her vision was swimming with electric sparks as she tried to ground herself in the real here and now. 

Tapping her fingers and breathing as deep and slow as she could didn’t seem to cut it, so Amelia grit her teeth and bit her lip stubbornly. She needed to focus at least a little bit. The trip was, after all, something the family had been planning for months now as a sweet 16 present to her sister. There was a long litany of shops and tourist traps they each wanted to hit. Entire days had been devoted to a string of private beaches a rich friend of a friend would let them access. Her father and mother even planned a few family trips to museums for something a bit more “wholesome.” This went along with a veritable smorgasbord of new and varied restaurants, all at a price level higher than the family would normally be able to afford. What was a vacation for, after all, rather than treating yourself?

...not that Amelia was invited to any of that of course. 

If she had to guess, the teen would have said that she was only invited along to keep up appearances. The neighbours already gave the family enough funny and dismissive looks already. Leaving her behind would have given the, admittedly accurate, appearance of family division and strife. Something that would, no doubt, give all the little gossiping church ladies ammunition for _days._

So it was decided that Amelia would tag along, but be relegated to the pull-out couch. From the sounds of it, there would be little if nothing for her to do besides watch TV or sit out on the public beach. All while she used what pocket money she had saved from her shitty less-than-minimum wage cashier job to buy her own food. Maybe if she was careful she could budget out a trip or two into the city. Regardless, she was fully anticipating a boring week full of cheap takeaway, people watching and shitty day time TV.

Which, now that she thought about it, sounded pretty swell to her. 

So swell in fact, that prior to being buffeted by the mysterious call she had been excitedly grinning as she stared off at the horizon. All those parties, museums, restaurants and countless _outings_ would have been exhausting. There would have been so many people to talk to. Excited people, loud people, people that expected her to make _conversation_. More likely than not in high squeaky voices that would give Amelia a splitting headache. Maybe about shoes, or fashion, or lord forbid, _boys_.

She shuddered at the thought. 

Don’t get her wrong, she loved Elly. Her baby sis was a giant bundle of excitement, charm and affection that was just impossible to keep down. Her friends were even mostly tolerable. Were it not for Amelia’s fatal flaw of being Elly’s deeply uncool older sister, she might have even been invited to some of her social engagements this week. Even if their parents would have practically frowned at Amelia being included in the rather...expensive and feminine hobbies. 

Still, she didn’t particularly enjoy the painful migraines she got from the wash of noise at such parties. Nor did she appreciate the way her brain made her feel stupid and awkward when the words just wouldn’t _come out_ when people asked her questions. Or even the way her much scruffier and boyish appearance made her feel small, stupid and mousey. Even still, Amelia had been known to argue loudly with stupid boys that her sister’s more girly and bubbly interests were perfectly normal and reasonable. Their overblown, hypocritical and stupid gagging over the sheer fact that, gasp, _pink_ was often part of the color scheme never failed to trigger her temper. 

(Some deep backwards corner of her brain tacked another item onto the negative list of the couple times she’d actually gone to one of her sister’s parties. The creeping sense of hot welling shame she got when her eyes unconsciously lingered just a hint too long on the low cut tops and short skirts her sister’s friends just would _not_ go away.)

Burying that thought deep down the old memory hole, Amelia tried focusing on her parents conversation. It was unfortunately difficult, so in the end she was barely able to make out the odd word or two. The rest was just a series of excited gestures and strangely muted warbles. 

Something about...checking in at the hotel maybe? She heard a few food names here and there, so it was probably planning for dinner tonight. She kept half an ear open as the car rolled through the busy streets of the hopping tourist trap city they’d found themselves in. Somewhere in there she heard her name along with a few choice words (lazy and freeloader chief among them) and what was probably an order to not lay around all day and stink up the hotel room. Par for the course with her parents really. The bountiful generosity of Christ may have meant extending a hand in friendship to an orphan child in need...but only if they paid it back at every opportunity. 

...She studiously ignored the winces and worried looks her sister was sending her. She just did not have the energy to assuage Elly’s guilt over the situation with their parents. It wasn’t even her fault really, and Amelia just wished her sister would stop bringing it up. Scabs can’t heal over if you keep picking at them after all. 

What a _super_ way to start a vacation.

* * *

Dark moonlit skies were filled with the wail of mournful winds carrying the smell of salt, drying seaweed and fish. Far off calls of excited humans and barely heard pulses of music reached her ears. All of it was drowned out by the pounding, booming pulse of the call through the air, growing higher and higher and higher. It echoed strangely around her, at once far off like a whale call through the mist, while also barely a few feet in front of her. 

…she felt cool, weathered rock under her feet, giving way to air as her foot was dragged forward by the call’s power. 

She was so close! It was there, like a word stuck on the tip of her tongue. If she just took that last step, if she just _gave in_ she could…

“Fuck!” Amelia spat into the chill night air as a painfully stubbed toe brought her back to herself. In a flash her arms shot out as she tried to keep her balance. 

Her eyes flashed, taking in the scene in front of her. More specifically the sheer, 50 foot drop off the sheer granite cliff she was standing on. The wailing winds buffeted her, even as her eyes dropped down to the tumultuous dark seas below. She barely managed to avoid the sheer drop by throwing her weight backwards. Unbalanced as she was, the move sent her sprawling onto her back. A series of colorful curses and groans escaped her lips (several of which would have her Mom tanning her hide for inviting the devil to play) as the shock and pain registered. 

The most immediate sensation was a vicious burning coming from her hands and back. A quick glance showed that she was scraped up pretty bad. The granite cliff-face she was on may have been weathered smooth, but it was far from soft. Bits of dirt and gravel had ripped through the soft skin of her palms causing small wellings of blood. After a moment of stunned silence she was able to take better stock of her aches and pains. Her skinned palms were far from the only thing bothering her. 

No, a moment later she realized she was _exhausted_. In a way she rarely ever remembered feeling like. Not even after doing a double shift at work. Her calves were trembling and throbbing like she’d just run a marathon. Her clothes were dirty, ripped and covered in twigs and pine needles. Her throat _burned_ with thirst. Like she hadn’t drunk anything in days. When she looked up she realized the sun had long since set. In fact, unless she was _quite_ mistaken, the moon was already poking its way behind the horizon to be replaced by the morning sun in short order. 

What. The fuck. Was happening. 

Last she remembered she’d been in her hotel room. Her Mom and Dad had just checked in. After their usual series of pointed glares and snide remarks to stay out of trouble they’d bundled Elly off for a big, welcome to the west coast seafood dinner. Amelia had just rolled her eyes and smiled fondly at her sister before flouncing off in search of a convenience store for something quick. 

Not two steps outside the door into the evening air she remembered hearing that damn call pick up with a vengeance, as if to spite the hopeful gurgling of her stomach. The hour, a bit late for dinner, but too early for parties had meant the street was mostly abandoned. With no family around requiring her to act like a proper lady, Amelia had found herself letting out a guttural curse as the call punched into her. She felt it pulling at her, like a hook caught in her navel then…

Well, then she woke up here, with no idea of how or why she got here. She patted her pockets desperately, groaning when she realized she’d left her phone in the hotel room to charge as she went out to explore for the first time. Off down the beach she could see a series of glowing lights illuminating the sky past the horizon in the direction of the faint music. She _thought_ (well, hoped) those lights meant she wasn’t too far out of town. Maybe she could hike over there and maybe someone would be nice enough to give her a ride back to the hotel? 

...She doubted it. 

Amelia had never been exactly why, but she’d always had to be wary of relying on the kindness of strangers. Not only did that mean putting herself out there to interact with... _people_ but she’d had a remarkably low success rate. Something about her seemed to...put people she met on edge for a bit. At least until they got to know her. It was something about her eyes, she thought. She actually quite liked their grey, almost silver tone. Especially since it matched her very light blonde, almost platinum hair. Still, she had a sneaking suspicion that other people got a little creeped out by them. In low light they almost seemed to glow, vibrant and flashing. 

At least, that was the best way for her to explain the little irrational flash of fear she always seemed to see in the eyes of anybody new.

With a resigned sigh, the teen pushed herself up to her feet. Truly there was nothing for it. She just had to start walking and hope for the best. Hopefully even when (not if) whoever it was that was partying refused to give her a ride, they’d at least tell her where she was. She turned on her heel and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. This was going to be a long night, but what was there for it but one foot in front of the othe-

Her attention was caught by a flash of silver out of the corner of her eye. Amelia turned back around to stare out over the sea and was caught fast to the spot. The wide horizon and just beginning licks of golden hues lighting up the sky hit her like a sledgehammer. She didn’t even know why, she just, she felt so _much_ as the silly, simple moment washed over her. An ache settled deep into her chest. Tears were running unheeded down her face. It was weird, maybe even a little silly. She struggled to come up with a reason why seeing the sun rise over the open ocean for the first time was so...emotional. 

This, this…This was something she’d been missing for so, so long. It’s loss felt like a stone in her shoe that had been there so very long she’d forgotten it had even existed. Even with the chill of the night still clinging over the land, she felt warm. Even shivering as she was in a thin T-shirt and shorts, her skin buzzed under the sun's increasing rays. A renewed sense of energy and purpose practically melted through her veins as she stood there. All the while she listened to the soft susurration of the waves on rocks, smelled the salt on the breeze and heard the calls of waking seabirds. 

She saw a flash of silver again, lower, not so far off. Her gaze snapped down to where the waves met shore. Something...something that didn’t fit in with the dark stone cliffs and lapping waves that made up the shore. She knew there was something if she could just-

There. Just a few meters off-shore. In between the rolling waves she saw a pair of silver dots flashing up at her. The steep cliff was far too high for Amelia to get any sort of detail in the dim barely dawn light. Still though, the way the silver dots seemed to almost...pulsate and glow was eerie. Especially when they disappeared every few seconds for a moment almost as if…

They were blinking? 

Amelia cursed as she focused on the area around it, realizing that through the dark water she could see the barest hint of long dark hair swirling around the silver dots. The form of what she was increasingly coming to suspect was a person just out for an early morning swim or something. 

Here Amelia was just staring at whoever it was like an utter creep. They’d probably been having a good time out by themselves on the quiet secluded beach and were now awkward and panicked at being watched in a private moment. Hell, maybe they’d gone for an icy skinny dip or something and were now just too terrified to come back out. Fuck, and while the water had warmed up a bit as the summer dragged on, the pacific was still freezing at the best of times. 

Knowing her luck, Amelia’s presence was probably going to cause them to get fucking hypothermia or something.It would all be her stupid, stupid faul-

Amelia heard a low groaning crack underneath her feet. Her stomach swooped as the stone cliff she stood on wobbled dangerously. It was just her stupid, stupid luck the solid looking jut of stone she was on was clearly more weathered and porous than she expected. With a horrific sense of foreboding she tried to throw herself back even as the edge of the cliff crumbled underneath her feet. In desperation she threw her torse as far back as she could, only to crack her shoulder painfully against the rock face. 

...She would be goddamn stupid enough to fuck herself over even harder trying to save herself, wouldn’t she?

Sudden sharp pain flared all along her shoulder and whipping neck. Downward momentum turned into sideways as her feet caught on the uneven rock wall. She felt a flash of pain and heard a cracking sound she was sure meant a broken ankle. Then all was spinning, scraping grey rock and rapidly approaching blue water as she tumbled down and down and down. 

In that moment, Amelia was praying, hoping beyond hope for a miracle. She’d be in no shape to even consider walking back to town on a broken leg. Who knows how many days it’d take for her family to send out a search party, assuming they even would. She knew she was fucked, but there were all sorts of different levels of fucked. Some might even not be so bad, who knows maybe she’ll get a light sprain and she can-

A splash and an overwhelming sensation of shocking cold hit her as she plunged into the water. The air knocked itself out of her lungs, and she cursed for being unprepared for the water to be quite so soon. Amelia flailed desperately trying to even out her momentum and right herself. She swiveled her neck back and forth. It took a few moments but eventually she was able to see the soft gold light of dawn in a direction she’d half thought was further down, but who was she to complain. 

The tumble down the cliff had apparently fucked her sense of direction, but she had a goal. Even if her eyes were burning from the salt of the sea. Clenching her jaw in determination she kicked and swam for all her worth. Inch by precious inch she pushed her way to the surface and precious, wonderful oxygen. Her lungs were already burning and decidedly not happy with her about their rough and inconsiderate treatment. 

A pressure set in against her chest. Water swirled past her, pushing her back and down further and further into the sea. Her eyes widened and her heart thundered in her chest as the apparent riptide sent her spinning again. With a curse her hands slammed against the sharp rocky bottom, sending a fresh jolt of pain through her. 

Desperately she kicked off the ground. She put all her might into swimming as hard as she could towards the surface. Only to curse again when another pulse of the riptide brought her into a slimy and stringy patch of kelp. Her frantic flailing and pushing did her no favors as she found herself tangled up in the thick stalks. 

With her strength flailing, it was all she could do to clumsily tug at the bindings coiled around her, trying in vain to free herself. The burning in her lungs got worse and worse even as her struggles grew weaker. She was so, so cold, in pain and bleeding in the dark water. Her lungs gave out on her, forcing her mouth open to try and suck in a desperate mouthful of air.

...The salt of the sea filled her instead. 

Ice spilled down her gullet. Where her stomach clenched at the harsh cold, her lungs burned as they filled with salt. This was it, she realized. This was the end for her because she was stupid enough to stand on the edge of an unstable cliff. The sad, skittish, isolated girl would die having done nothing of consequence or impact of her life. She was barely out of high school, had nothing more to her name than a shitty dead-end job and that was all there’d ever be. 

No more painful scrimping to maybe go to college. No more agonizing about whether it’d be better to get an apartment, just to get away from her parents a little sooner. No more late night chats with Elly. No more ducking down alleys to avoid the posse of meathead jocks that refused to age a single day even after graduation. No more guiltily shutting her eyes in the change room. 

No more feeling lonely, sad and utterly alone. 

The thought was surprisingly...bittersweet. At least her disappearance wouldn’t cause anyone much trouble. Her sister would be pretty sad for a while, sure. She’d get over it though. Elly was tough, stronger than anyone knew. Even than she gave herself credit for. Amelia knew that girl was going places.Amelia felt a forlorn smile grace her trembling lips. 

Yeah, the world would get on just fine without her. She’d really rather not have gone so early but it was kinda...a load off, wasn’t it?

Strangely enough, when she took a moment she didn’t even feel all that sad. The far off dawning sun had gone oddly...silverly in the dark water. The thin strands weaved through the water and dispersed like rolling banks of fog. The faint light showed towering strands of thick, dark green kelp filling up her vision like giants. All of which reached up and up to catch the sun’s light. 

It was...beautiful. 

Now that she was calmer, she was able to appreciate the strange beauty around her. Especially as dozens of glinting silver fish spun in playful circles around her. Little curious minnows were hiding out in the kelp forest and even darted out to curiously bump into her nose. The smile on her lips got wider and less forced. 

There were far worse places to die, that’s for sure. 

Even her body didn’t feel so bad now that she thought about it. Her fingers and toes had, of course, long gone numb in the cold water. At the same time though, the strangest sort of chilly warmth had started seeping through her skin. All over she felt the strangest tingling buzz that eagerly seeped it’s way into her pores. The knot that was her stomach had turned into an exploding ball of fire. It was strange in the way it seemed at once both hot and cold. Like someone had forced her to drink a vial of acid that had been thrown in the freezer. 

Only it was somehow pleasant. Well, more soothing maybe. Like eating her favorite spicy, sour soup when she was sick. 

Whatever was causing her to feel this way lit up her senses like nothing else had ever before. The most amazing burst of adrenaline crashed through her, making her head swim and throb. A throb which seemed in perfect time to the renewed pulsing of the call that had started this whole mess.

It was...different, more powerful and far clearer in the water. It echoed and swooped, high, then low then high again like whalesong. Far off, half heard words slipped past her ears from many voices. Some high and squeaky, others low and filled with smoke. The language was at once familiar, but so far past the edge of her consciousness she couldn’t make out anything so crude as words. Where once the call was filled with desperate yearning, now it was filled with joy and wonder. It was filled with the sounds of old friends meeting, family reuniting and love blossoming. 

Amelia found herself awestruck.

Without conscious thought she used the last of her breath to join the call as her vision started to fade to black. A hum built up in her throat, oddly scratchy. Even still, she threw her voice low, full of lonely mourning. After all, if this was to be her first and only song, she had to make it a good one. The faltering whimper of minor chords sung her resignation and hopelessness far and wide.

A thousand, thousand voices crooned back, sending comfort and understanding.

There was a flash of glowing silver orbs surrounding utter blackness. Inky black strands waved throughout Amelia’s field of view. The silver orbs flared brighter for a second as though in stunned surprise. 

Then blackness descended as the human Amelia Grey died in darkness and pain.

* * *


End file.
